Product Description

Winner of Four Australian Academy Awards, Including Best Actor - Nicholas Hope, Best Director - Rolf De Heer, and Best Original Screenplay.

L.A. Weekly called it "disturbing and compelling", and it was awarded The Grand Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. Despite a limited release in America, it would shock and delight audiences to become one of the most daring and controversial cult films of the past decade. Nicholas Hope in what Variety hails as "an astonishing performance" - stars as Bubby, a demented man-child kept locked his entire life in a squalid apartment by his depraved mother. But when Bubby - who can only communicate by mimicking what others say and do - escapes into the outside, he soon discovers the wonders of sex, crime, rock & roll and pizza. Will this 'mad bastard' be destroyed by the realities of our cruel world, or does a higher calling ultimately await him in the most unlikely place of all?

Extras:
Christ Kid, You're A Weirdo - Interview with Director Rolf De Heer
Being Bubby - Interview with Star Nicholas Hope
Confessor Caressor - Short Film Starring Nicholas Hope (20 mins)
Theatrical Trailer
Poster & Still Gallery

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40645 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-04-26
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 114 minutes

Amazon.com
Australian writer-director Rolf De Heer's 1993 semi-comic satire, Bad Boy Bubby, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival for its sometimes savage vision of a modern society in which a Kaspar Hauser-like figure suddenly appears. Nicholas Hope is masterful as 35-year-old Bubby, who has been shut within his corpulent mother's airless apartment all his life, enduring sexual exploitation and mom's lies about the outside world being poisonous. When Bubby's estranged father turns up, the boy-man seizes an opportunity to flee, and embarks on a dark journey to encounter the unknown. De Heer keeps his innocent hero moving from situation to situation, like a great blank slate (think of Peter Sellers in Being There) absorbing and repeating whatever he sees and hears. Meanwhile, the people who meet him perceive exactly what they want to perceive. De Heer may be on a Swiftian mission to underscore humanity's corruption, but Hope is brilliant at the more subtle job of constructing, using few tools, Bubby's increasingly complex inner life. --Tom Keogh

Los Angeles Times
"An Amazing Journey! A rare film....As Funny As It Is Poignant And Bizarre"

Shock Cinema
"Twisted and Hilarious! Imagine Being There Directed By David Lynch...Don't Pass This Up!"

Customer Reviews

Remarkable
In the film Bad Boy Bubby, the title character is a thirty-five year old man child who has been locked inside a cramped, dingy room by his abusive mother for his entire life. When Bubby's Pop suddenly shows up after a thirty-five year absence, Bubby is flushed out of his home, and the only world he has ever known, by his Mom and Pop, and into the "real" world, where he experiences equal measures of human cruelty and human kindness.
The film is at times bleak, harrowing, funny, heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful. All of the actors do a very fine job, but Nicholas Hope's performance as Bubby is absolutely stunning. There's a long tradition of actors delving into roles of this type, Sling Blade, Awakenings or Rain Man for example, and while Hope's performance isn't as widely regarded as the lead performances in these three films, it surely would be if the film Bad Boy Bubby had received a wider release - especially in the United States, where until now it has been practically nonexistent. Now however, thanks to Blue Underground and this great DVD release a much wider audience will hopefully be able to see this exceptional film for the first time.
Once again Blue Underground has done a really topnotch job. The film transfer looks great and there are two sound options: a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround and a Dolby Surround 2.0. Of special note, the sound for the film was recorded using a binaural sound system that is meant to allow the viewer the experience of hearing everything the same way the main character would. The extras on the disc are a 24 minute interview with director Rolf de Heer, who describes the interesting binaural recording process and reveals a lot of fascinating insights and details, including the fact that over 30 different cinematographers were used to shoot the film. There is a second 15 minute interview with Nicholas Hope who discusses his career before, during, and after Bad Boy Bubby. The short film that led to Nicholas Hope being cast in the role of Bubby, titled Confessor Caressor, is also included. And finally, there is also a theatrical trailer for Bad Boy Bubby and a poster/stills gallery. In all a great disc befitting a remarkable film.

This Is not your average Hollywood blockbuster
This movie is certainly an eye-opener. It may shock and disturb in some places but will leave you on an emotional high. You can feel yourself being consumed by the movie and almost living in the character and growing with him. Be warned this movie will stay in your head for a long time. But on a positive note there is a happy ending and is quite comical in some places, both purposely and accidently. The special features are excellent and anyone interested in movie making like myself, will definitely enjoy the very insightful directors commentary.

Bad Boy Bubby Blues
One of the best movies I've ever seen. It takes you from one completely twisted moment to the next - with an astonishing ending that makes you think. Definitely not for the faint-hearted or closed-minded.